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Dhaba delights

An educationist, a poet and a good cook - Divik Ramesh is all that rolled into one as we discover over dinner at Claridges hotel's Dhaba

THE REAL TASTE There is nothing to beat simple food, says Divik Ramesh, relishing the food at The Dhaba in Claridges hotel. PHOTO: RAJEEV BHATT

It is widely believed that feeling of pain is necessary to write poetry. But Divik Ramesh is an exception. "I can't write poetry when I am tense. I need total ecstasy to write poetry of agony", he said at the beginning of a relaxed evening at the Dhaba. Next two hours, we spent talking about poetic pain interspersed by Kababs, Balti meat, yellow dal and kheer. He evinced a matching interest in poems as a litératteur and food as a gourmand. Dhaba is a popular eating joint in the upmarket Claridges Hotel, with an interior that is an artistic replica of a highway dhaba. A waiting truck a backdrop that honks at the arrival of every new guest. Divik is the principal of Moti Lal Nehru College. Heading a college is academic bureaucracy but Divik says poetry has made him more humane in his administration. Once the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on queried whether he found time to write poetry, said, "I try to be poetic in my file notings". But when Vajpayee came to present Girija Kumar Mathur award to Divik Ramesh on his long poem Khand Khand Agni (Ignis Shattered) he extensively quoted from the book. The poem talks about Ram's inquisition on his wife Sita's trial by fire to test her chastity after she returned from Ravan's captivity. The poem questions the propriety of Ram's action but the poet in Vajpayee had no hesitation in appreciating the work.

First choice

Divik's first choice was chicken do pyaza but he said he would settle for seekh kababs and then go for balti meat. Small bucket containers were polished off with regular periodicity and the count was soon lost. A Haryanvi by heritage but a Delhiite by birth, Divik has become more of a cosmopolitan but his palate has remained pucca desi. He appeared as comfortable in this look-alike dhaba as his students would be in the real one. "I have always preferred dhaba to a five-star hotel because they serve the real stuff. I first look for a dhaba wherever I go. When I was teaching Hindi in a Korean university I asked my students to take me to their favourite joint. It turned out to be a dhaba though serving local dishes.

Which is the best dhaba in Delhi? Go to Multani Dhanda in Paharganj. Three brothers dressed in starched white open their joint at 11 and by 2 p.m. they pack up for the day. People have to queue up for their turn. Why does poetry at times look for an initiated reader? "Not good poetry. Encylopaedia Britannica says that the language of poem should be structured. But I don't agree. That is why perhaps I enjoy writing for children far more, though in India poets fight shy in admitting in public that they write for kids.

Child's play!

Once I was introduced in Moscow to a poet Mayovesky. He writes poems for children. He narrated a short story about himself. Some years back an income tax officer came with a demand notice. The issue was the amount of royalty that the poet had received. The inspector argued with him that writing for children was a child's play why was he getting so much royalty. The inspector even gave him a break-up for paper and ink. The poet innocently reminded how about the labour for writing for children."

Divik's poems are taught at all levels from schools to universities. He was in an expansive mood. He didn't need much prodding to recite one of his popular poems: "Agar ped bhi chalte kitne maze hamare hote, Jahan bhi humko bhookh satati tod madhur phal uske khate, Padti dhoop yadi achanak, jhat uske neech chup jaate" (If the trees could walk what fun it would have given, If we felt hungry on the way we just had to grab some fruits, If the sun became hot we had a ready cover).

Could there be a meeting point between poetry and cooking? Like beauty both the traits look up to the end user. About poetry, at times one expects an initiated reader. That may not be a case with the guest at the table. How about the poet as a cook? "Korea taught me how to cook. It was a survival necessity. Koreans eat anything that walks or even crawls. It took sometime for me to get used to different species. Till then I learnt how to boil rice and vegetables, put salt and pepper, and a cook came out of a poet. I bought Tarla Dalal's and Nita Mehta' recipes and I dared to declare myself a host. People came for food but got poems as extra bonus. I was appreciated but I chose not to ask for what?"

OM GUPTA

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